Defense of Marriage Act: More Work to Be Done

While supporters celebrated the Supreme Court's landmark decision that rules it unconstitutional to prohibit the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson writes that there is more work to be done on the matter.

Justice Anthony Kennedy's sweeping opinion, striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, compels the federal government to accept that there is no difference between legally performed same-sex marriages and legally performed opposite-sex marriages. That is huge — but only goes so far.

The court left the question of allowing gay marriage to the states. This means that couples who are legally married in, say, Massachusetts or New York will be considered unmarried, and unable to be married, in Alabama or South Carolina. If they move to one of those states, they may receive the federal benefits of marriage but none of the state benefits.

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